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Which Pilot Escort?

corinwencorinwen Member Posts: 13 Arc User
in The Academy
Hailing frequencies opened.

So, I've tried doing some research before coming here and noobing all over your shiny boots... I promise that I'll clean it up.

Everything I can find seems outdated or lacking in specifics.

I'm looking at the Fed pilot escorts as something new and hopefully fun to try.

Most of what I can find out there seems to lean towards the Science Icarus because it can equip a LTC Science BOFF.

First, any advice/recommendations in general are greatly appreciated... and specifically, why is the LTC Science BOFF such a big deal?

I read a lot about how Gravity Well is great to clump enemies together... so is that why the LTC Science BOFF is better? Cause I've read that after some nerf, if you're not heavily invested in control expertise, Gravity Well is kinda useless.

I are confuzzled.

Thank you for any insight you may have.
Fixing Starships one wrench wack at a time,
Commander Kendrick, NoOb Extraordinaire

Comments

  • szerontzurszerontzur Member Posts: 2,724 Arc User
    It's largely a matter of preference. The Ikkabar is primarily treasured because of its account-wide mastery trait unlock.

    If you were here for the most recent Summer Event, you can get access to the Pilot Risian corvette for relatively cheap.

    Otherwise, it mostly just comes down to what kind of exclusive gimmicks and bridge layout you, personally, want on your little gunship of doom. Any of the Pilot ships are capable of running Aux2Bat/Photonic Officer for cooldown reduction, so it really is just a matter of preference.
  • seaofsorrowsseaofsorrows Member Posts: 10,919 Arc User
    Yeah, it depends on the build you want.

    If you want a build with the ability to run Gravity Well, then you want the Icarus.

    Personally, I like to run Aux2Bat builds which require more engineering stations.. so for me, the best one is the Ajax or the Andorian Kuthar.

    Without knowing your exact build, we can't tell you which one is 'best.'
    Insert witty signature line here.
  • foxrockssocksfoxrockssocks Member Posts: 2,482 Arc User
    Well, if you get the entire bundle, you can get 3 ships and play with which one you find works best for you. Barring that, go visit https://skillplanner.stoacademy.com/ and play with your BOFF seating in the various pilot ships at the least to find something you think you'll like.

    On Grav well specifically, I find slapping it on everything is really boring. Grav wells also are not nearly as effective on escorts because they need a fair amount of control expertise for GW1, and they need aux power, neither of which is easy to manage on an escort without sacrificing other stuff.

    Now, they can be effective enough, because you don't need them tightly packed for warp core explosions and other small radius exotic abilities if you're just using FAW or CSV. However if you want to use exotic torpedoes like the gravimetric photon, neutronic, or others, or other abilities like kemocite laced weaponry you do want them tighter for better AOE damage.

    Of course, there are other things besides grav well you can use in a LTC slot. You could use tachyon beam 3 as part of a shield draining strategy, energy siphon 2 to help your power without sacrificing aux in an aux to battery build, or photonic officer 2 for great cooldown management, or maybe you want the best science heals you can get.
  • corinwencorinwen Member Posts: 13 Arc User
    Thank you all for the replies.

    What do I want to do?

    Honestly, I've just recently returned, ran the Beneath The Skin quest on my Eng using the Arbiter, Sci using the Palatine, (or whatever the mulitpurpose Sci vessel is called), and my Tac using the Valiant class, (AKA Defiant, lol).

    Hands down, do not pass GO, do not collect $200, I had the most fun, fastest and easiet clear, with the Valiant.

    So, then I got to thinking, gee... would a Pilot Escort be even more fun, fast, and furious?

    What do I want to do? Buy just one version for now, and use with all three Captains at times, have fun, and ROFLSTOMP things, lol, (PvE only).

    With that in mind are any of the three versions better than the other?

    Also, in general, why do I see so many posts around the interwebs about the Sci version being better because it can use a LTC Sci BOFF? What is it specifically about a LTC Sci BOFF that makes it better than a TAC or ENG version? What skill(s) are folks so hot about?

    Thanks for any advice and insight you can provide.
    Fixing Starships one wrench wack at a time,
    Commander Kendrick, NoOb Extraordinaire
  • bossheisenbergbossheisenberg Member Posts: 603 Arc User
    Are you wanting a science build on a pilot escort? I would look into the scout ships, they are sci raiders. The recent jellyfish ship is probably the best one so far, but expensive. I think the pilot maneuvers are obsolete now with the speeds attainable these days. If you could keybind the dash maneuvers I think it would be usable but as they have it now with the tiny buttons or the double tap it's just not workable.
  • questeriusquesterius Member Posts: 8,505 Arc User
    edited February 2020
    seaofsorrows wrote: »
    Yeah, it depends on the build you want.

    If you want a build with the ability to run Gravity Well, then you want the Icarus.

    Personally, I like to run Aux2Bat builds which require more engineering stations.. so for me, the best one is the Ajax or the Andorian Kuthar.

    Without knowing your exact build, we can't tell you which one is 'best.'

    To each their own.
    Personally i like my escorts (and thus pilot escorts) sci heavy.
    So for me the choice would be https://sto.gamepedia.com/Andorian_Chimesh_Pilot_Escort or https://sto.gamepedia.com/Icarus_Science_Pilot_Escort

    B.t.w. if you like the discovery style star ships you can also opt for the Shran
    https://sto.gamepedia.com/Shran_Light_Pilot_Escort


    This program, though reasonably normal at times, seems to have a strong affinity to classes belonging to the Cat 2.0 program. Questerius 2.7 will break down on occasion, resulting in garbage and nonsense messages whenever it occurs. Usually a hard reboot or pulling the plug solves the problem when that happens.
  • corinwencorinwen Member Posts: 13 Arc User
    questerius wrote: »
    seaofsorrows wrote: »
    Yeah, it depends on the build you want.

    If you want a build with the ability to run Gravity Well, then you want the Icarus.

    Personally, I like to run Aux2Bat builds which require more engineering stations.. so for me, the best one is the Ajax or the Andorian Kuthar.

    Without knowing your exact build, we can't tell you which one is 'best.'

    To each their own.
    Personally i like my escorts (and thus pilot escorts) sci heavy.
    So for me the choice would be https://sto.gamepedia.com/Andorian_Chimesh_Pilot_Escort or https://sto.gamepedia.com/Icarus_Science_Pilot_Escort

    May I ask why, please? Why Sci heavy I mean?
    Fixing Starships one wrench wack at a time,
    Commander Kendrick, NoOb Extraordinaire
  • questeriusquesterius Member Posts: 8,505 Arc User
    corinwen wrote: »
    questerius wrote: »
    seaofsorrows wrote: »
    Yeah, it depends on the build you want.

    If you want a build with the ability to run Gravity Well, then you want the Icarus.

    Personally, I like to run Aux2Bat builds which require more engineering stations.. so for me, the best one is the Ajax or the Andorian Kuthar.

    Without knowing your exact build, we can't tell you which one is 'best.'

    To each their own.
    Personally i like my escorts (and thus pilot escorts) sci heavy.
    So for me the choice would be https://sto.gamepedia.com/Andorian_Chimesh_Pilot_Escort or https://sto.gamepedia.com/Icarus_Science_Pilot_Escort

    May I ask why, please? Why Sci heavy I mean?

    Synergy between crowd control, flanking and sci boosted damage: enemies close together are easier to hit.


    E.g. Icarus was for a long time considered one of the best, if not THE best, Pilot escort (perhaps only trumped by the Romulan Variant) because it could do crowd control and had enough sci consoles to boost EPG to acceptable levels.
    This program, though reasonably normal at times, seems to have a strong affinity to classes belonging to the Cat 2.0 program. Questerius 2.7 will break down on occasion, resulting in garbage and nonsense messages whenever it occurs. Usually a hard reboot or pulling the plug solves the problem when that happens.
  • questeriusquesterius Member Posts: 8,505 Arc User
    B.t.w keep in mind that while you have heard fans of the engineering heavy and science heavy pilot escorts, the Tactical heavy pilot escorts also have their people who prefer them.

    We can only list the benefits we see and then, after you have tested some (perhaps on tribble?) to see which play style suits you best THAN make a choice which variant to use.

    Remember that there is no such thing as the "best" pilot escort, but merely a pilot escort which is best for you.
    This program, though reasonably normal at times, seems to have a strong affinity to classes belonging to the Cat 2.0 program. Questerius 2.7 will break down on occasion, resulting in garbage and nonsense messages whenever it occurs. Usually a hard reboot or pulling the plug solves the problem when that happens.
  • szerontzurszerontzur Member Posts: 2,724 Arc User
    corinwen wrote: »

    ...
    With that in mind are any of the three versions better than the other?

    Also, in general, why do I see so many posts around the interwebs about the Sci version being better because it can use a LTC Sci BOFF? What is it specifically about a LTC Sci BOFF that makes it better than a TAC or ENG version? What skill(s) are folks so hot about?

    Thanks for any advice and insight you can provide.

    Firstly, there are many more than just 3 versions of pilot ships available these days. There are 2(6) bundles (one for each main playable faction, one for a species that's 'allied' to each faction - Andorians for Federation); the Discovery variants; Fleet T6 version of the Risian corvette has pilot maneuvers; there are also a couple lockbox/lobi/promo ones as well.

    From what I remember, the Sci variants were popular because Exotic Damage builds were all the craze back then. Exotic damage is still excellent, but I'd probably classify it more as a min/max-y thing these days and really not necessary for the average player. Obviously, you can hybrid into control as well, but it doesn't really sound like that's your playstyle.

    TL;DR:
    Tac Variants = Weapon Variety Flexibility
    Eng Variants = Extra Tankiness
    Sci Variants = Build/Playstyle Flexibility
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